Thunderball is the fourth film in the EON Productions James Bond series, and also the fourth film to star Sean Connery as British Secret Service agent, Commander James Bond 007. Released in 1965, it was the third 007 film to be directed by Terence Young.

Thunderball has, to date, been adapted twice for the cinema, although there had been plans for further adaptations that have resulted in lawsuits. In 1983, Kevin McClory produced an unofficial remake (i.e. outside of the EON Productions canon) called Never Say Never Again, which again starred Sean Connery as James Bond.

Plot summary: James Bond is sent by M to a health clinic to improve his health. While massaged by physiotherapist Patricia Fearing, he notices Count Lippe, a suspicious man with a criminal tattoo (from a Tong). He searches Lippe’s room, but is seen leaving it by Lippe’s clinic neighbour who is bandaged because of plastic surgery. Later, Lippe tries to murder Bond with a spinal traction machine but the attempt is foiled by Fearing. Bond soon finds a dead bandaged man, and survives a second murder attempt. The dead man is François Derval, a French NATO pilot deployed to fly an Avro Vulcan jet bomber loaded with two nuclear bombs for a training session.

Derval has been murdered by Angelo, a SPECTRE henchman surgically altered to match his appearance. Angelo takes Derval’s place on the training flight, gasses the crew, and sinks the plane near the Bahamas. He is killed underwater by Emilio Largo (SPECTRE No 2), however, for trying to extort more money from the organisation than he had been promised;. Largo and his henchmen then steal the atomic bombs on the seabed. The theft summons Bond and all other double-0 agents to Whitehall. En route, Lippe chases Bond but is killed by SPECTRE agent, Fiona Volpe, for failing to foresee Angelo’s greed.

Emilio Largo’s men battle Bond underwater.

At the meeting, Bond recognises Derval as the cadaver he encountered in the health clinic from a photograph. Since Derval’s sister, Domino, is in Nassau, Bond asks M to send him to the Bahamas. Domino turns out to be Largo’s mistress. Bond exploits the connection to approach Largo after meeting Domino while scuba diving. Bond and Largo immediately recognise each other as enemies but play a mutual psychological cat-and-mouse game to draw each other out. Bond attempts to scuba his under Largo’s boat to gain information and is nearly killed by grenades. After narrowly escaping death, he is picked up by Fiona and driven back to the hotel. Bond’s assistant Paula Caplan is eventually abducted by Largo for questioning; she kills herself just before Bond can rescue her.

At a Junkanoo celebration in Nassau, Fiona Volpe tries to kill Bond but is shot by her own bodyguard. Soon, Bond and CIA case officer Felix Leiter search for the Vulcan by helicopter, eventually finding it underwater, along with the crew corpses and Angelo the counterfeit NATO observer pilot. Afterwards, Bond tells Domino that Largo killed her brother, pleading for her help in finding the nuclear bombs. She tells Bond where and how to replace a SPECTRE agent on a mission with Largo, who is retrieving the bombs from a submarine hiding place. Disguised as Largo’s henchman, Bond uncovers his plan to detonate the bombs in Miami Beach.

En route to the cave where the bombs will be temporarily stored, Bond’s cover is blown by Largo. After an underwater battle with Largo’s men, Bond is rescued by Leiter who orders a unit of United States Coast Guard sailors to parachute to the area for underwater battle against SPECTRE frogmen. Bond joins the fray, killing several SPECTRE frogmen with high tech submarine weapons, and his knife and hands. The surviving henchmen surrender.

Patricia Fearing.

Finally, Largo escapes to his ship, the Disco Volante (Italian: Flying Saucer), which still has one bomb aboard; Bond follows him and sneaks aboard. During a hand-to-hand fight, Largo gains the upper hand and is about to shoot Bond, however, Domino shoots a spear into Largo’s back. With the dying Largo death-locked to the uncontrolled yacht’s wheel, Bond and Domino jump overboard as it runs aground and explodes. A sky hook-equipped US Navy Boeing B-17 airplane rescues Bond and Domino from the sea.

See also:

• Thunderball: Film - Cast
• Thunderball: Film - Crew
• Thunderball: Film - Goofups
• Thunderball: Film - Locations
• Thunderball: Film - Soundtrack
• Thunderball: Film - Trivia